Sec State Hilly unconstitutional?

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Ummm Heh. This looks to be a wicked funny about to slam down on the plans to have Hillary man the controls at the State Department. That silly old Constitution says she can't have the job. From the very serious and conspiracy theory free Volokh Conspiracy (they are Law Profs).

So, "Is Hillary Clinton Unconstitutional?" In a word, Yes -- or, to be more precise, a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be unconstitutional.

The Emoluments Clause of Article I, section 6 provides "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time." As I understand it, President Bush's executive order from earlier this year "encreased" the "Emoluments" (salary) of the office of Secretary of State. Last I checked, Hillary Clinton was an elected Senator from New York at the time. Were she to be appointed to the civil Office of Secretary of State, she would be being appointed to an office for which "the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased" during the time for which she was elected to serve as Senator. The plain language of the Emoluments Clause would thus appear to bar her appointment ... if the Constitution is taken seriously (which it more than occasionally isn't on these matters, of course).

This is the folks most knowledgable about this topic saying she can't have the job. What I don't understand is how the mighty solons advising the Obama have failed to note this glaring disqualification. Perhaps they don't care about the Constitution. I mean their favorite part of it doesn't even exist in the actual document itself. Nope, that all powerful right to abort anything, any time, any where is contained in an "emanation of a penumbra" of several Amendments.

So if the Obama decides he wants to ruin his administration by emplacing someone who he cannot trust as Sec State, then so be it. It will be interesting to see other areas where they can streamline and update that dusty old parchment nobody reads much anymore.

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Comments

Sec State Hilly unconstitutional?

Ummm Heh. This looks to be a wicked funny about to slam down on the plans to have Hillary man the controls at the State Department. That silly old Constitution says she can't have the job. From the very serious and conspiracy theory free Volokh Conspiracy (they are Law Profs).

So, "Is Hillary Clinton Unconstitutional?" In a word, Yes -- or, to be more precise, a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be unconstitutional.

The Emoluments Clause of Article I, section 6 provides "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time." As I understand it, President Bush's executive order from earlier this year "encreased" the "Emoluments" (salary) of the office of Secretary of State. Last I checked, Hillary Clinton was an elected Senator from New York at the time. Were she to be appointed to the civil Office of Secretary of State, she would be being appointed to an office for which "the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased" during the time for which she was elected to serve as Senator. The plain language of the Emoluments Clause would thus appear to bar her appointment ... if the Constitution is taken seriously (which it more than occasionally isn't on these matters, of course).

This is the folks most knowledgable about this topic saying she can't have the job. What I don't understand is how the mighty solons advising the Obama have failed to note this glaring disqualification. Perhaps they don't care about the Constitution. I mean their favorite part of it doesn't even exist in the actual document itself. Nope, that all powerful right to abort anything, any time, any where is contained in an "emanation of a penumbra" of several Amendments.

So if the Obama decides he wants to ruin his administration by emplacing someone who he cannot trust as Sec State, then so be it. It will be interesting to see other areas where they can streamline and update that dusty old parchment nobody reads much anymore.

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